Every story and different perspectives add a valuable piece to the bigger picture of my existence. Life is like an adventure, and our choices create our unique journey. We all have our own stories, childhood, past experiences, and ways of looking at the world.
It’s as if we’re all traveling along parallel tracks, each with our narrative, experiencing life through our personal filters.
Even though these could be all different, there’s something common in all of us — we’re living our stories, learning something, as well as sharing teachings along the way.
Breaking the Illusion of a Single “Right” Perspective and Universal Truth
Once, I believed that my perspective and the way I interpreted life represented the universal truth. However, I was overlooking the essential word ‘my’ in that belief, forgetting to specify that it was just ‘my truth.’
Many times when I heard someone else’s opinion, I often thought that my own perspective was superior or more correct, and I believed I already had the right answer or the correct perception about it.
Embracing Diversity with Humility
I don’t mean to say that I was doing something wrong. As I’m growing up, life itself shows me that while I have my perception and my own filters that are colouring the reality around me, there are many others.
Just as I’ve constructed my truth, every other person possesses their version of truth, sometimes very different from mine. I grew up in a place with strong beliefs, and as I got older, I sometimes judged others’ views and life choices without even realizing it.
Even today, I occasionally fall into the trap of believing that my perspective is the only “right” one. However, it’s an illusion. If I held all the answers and that “universally correct” worldview, why would I be here? What purpose would my existence serve if I already had all the answers to everything? It would be a pretty boring journey.
The path I’m on, the people I meet, the places I visit, and the stories I hear are constantly teaching me that there are many stories and truths, that can be very different from mine and still be valid.
Why is this so? Each of these stories carries its unique history, influenced by beliefs and filters that are specific to each individual. What I see as right from my perspective might not be right for someone else, and that’s okay.
Why was this important to realize?
Firstly, this makes me understand that many of the beliefs I carried within myself, the image I had about myself don’t represent the universal truth. I have the opportunity to choose new ones that I want to relate to among all that exist. If someone sees the glass as half full and someone else looks at the same glass and perceives it as half empty, why can’t I choose the first option?
Secondly, if I came here to learn a lesson, I also came here to teach someone. So, as I get the opportunity to learn from the stories of all the people I meet, they get the opportunity to learn from my story too.
And what if I simply start listening each story with humility? It means giving the same respect to their point of view as I do to mine, even if I don’t always agree.
It’s a path of continuous growth, learning from others, even when their perspectives sometimes challenge my own, it’s in these moments that I often find the most profound insights.
Getting Back to Myself Through Others
What if each story is here to teach me something about myself? What if every story reflects an aspect of my inner self? What if the relationship and attitude I have to something in the outside world is the reflection of the relationship I have to myself?
Earlier, I mentioned that we’re here not just to gain knowledge but to share our wisdom through our life stories.
I feel that one of the most significant lessons I’ve come here to learn is that my perception is just one of many equally valid views.
Life is like a big puzzle. Every day, our experiences, the people we meet, and the stories we hear are like missing puzzle pieces. We add these pieces to the whole picture, making it more complete and colorful.
Sometimes we skip adding a piece, thinking it’s wrong, but later it might show up again as the missing one.
Each story and perspective on life we hear around us have unique purpose.
Challenging My Beliefs and Embracing Growth
During first years of my childhood, I perceived the world without creating divisions, and it seemed boundless.
But when my identity was formed, the world has gradually began to feel more confined, influenced by the beliefs I carried with me. Just like a small plant grows to the shape of its surroundings, my thoughts were shaped by these influences, and I mostly saw things the way I’d been taught.
I believe that as adults, we are faced with two choices:
We can choose to close our minds, firmly believing that our perspective is the only correct one.
On the other hand, we have the chance to embrace the world’s diversity, drawing valuable insights from every story we encounter. In doing so, we can broaden our own perspective and awaken the limitless curiosity of a child who watches, learns, and embraces the richness of experiences without making distinctions.
No matter the path we take through the stories of our lives, every journey holds those missing pieces we need to complete the beautiful picture that represents our life.
In my case, traveling gives me the opportunity to gain fresh perspectives. Interacting with people from different cultures opens my eyes to the vast array of human experiences, opinions, values, and unique perceptions.
I have the opportunity to see that each culture possesses its values and traditions, enriching my view of the world.. just one of the many that exist.
But it doesn’t really matter whether we decide to get to know different perspectives through daydreaming, getting lost in a great book, talking with loved ones or with a stranger on the way to work, or traveling to faraway places to discover different cultures — each of these experiences and stories we have the opportunity to hear contains those missing puzzle pieces that help us complete this unique picture called life.